Shield for safety razor



Sept. 29, 1970- D. c. PATTERSON 3,530,574

SHIELD FOR SAFETY RAZOR Filed Jan. 12. 1968 INVENTOR.

A TT

United States Patent 3,530,574 SHIELD FOR SAFETY RAZOR Donald C. Patterson, 12722 Blossey E., Spokane, Wash. 99216 Filed Jan. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 697,438 Int. Cl. B261) 21/40 US. C]. 30-90 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A protective shield for a safety razor is described that is formed of an elastic material with a back section, side and end Walls that cover the head and blade guards of the holder for a double edge blade. The side walls have inwardly extending lips. Parallel longitudinal ribs are formed on the interior of the back section and extend toward the razor head to keep the back section raised from the head of the razor. To release the shield one depresses the back section between the ribs to pivot the side walls outward to spread the lips outward from the razor blade guards. Tabs are formed on the ends of the shield for facilitating the removal after the lips are released.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to protective shields for safety razors, and more particularly to detachable protective shields for double-edge safety razors.

The use of double edge safety razors has increased substantially during the last 50 years with over two million safety razors being sold each year. The double edge blades that are utilized in the safety razor are very thin and have sharp edges. The edges of the blades may be easily damaged unless special care is taken of the safety razor. Frequently, the owner will accidentally cut his finger when he removes the razor from a traveling case.

It has long been recognized that it is quite desirable to provide a protective shield for the safety razor to protect the blade edges while the razor is not being used. A protective guard or shield should also prevent the owner from inadvertently cutting himself while handling the razor.

Although this need has long been apparent, guards or shields are not in widespread use for various reasons. One of the reasons for the non-use is that the presently available shields do not effectively protect the blade. Further, many of the available shields are quite cumbersome to apply and to remove from the rozor head. Many of the guards that have been proposed can be easily broken or distorted to such a point that they are ineffective for continued use as a guard.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an inexpensive shield that may be easily applied and removed from the razor head and which efiiciently protects the blade and the user when the razor is not being used.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a protective shield that may be easily manufactured and which cannot be easily damaged.

A further object of this invention is to provide a protective shield which will fit many types of razors of the safety razor class.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a protective shield which is detachable and which is firmly held in place so that it may not be inadvertently removed from the razor.

These and other objects of this invention will become readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred embodiment.

3,530,574 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 ice BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The preferred embodiment of this invention is illusrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety razor with a protective shield mounted on the head of the razor;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the protective shield;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the razor and protective shield;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2 showing the principal elements of the protective shield in the normal configuration; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 4 except showing the shield in deflected configurationas it is removed from the safety razor head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a protective shield 9 mounted on a razor 10 that has a rectangular shaped razor head 11 and a central supporting handle 12 extending downwardly therefrom. The razor head 11 (FIG. 4) of a well known type has a movable retaining frame '13 and a stationary blade seat 14. The side edges of the seat 14 are turned downwardly to form depending blade guards 15 and 16. A pair of curved cover plates 17 and 1-8 are pivotally mounted to the corners of the retaining frame 13. A central vertical positioning bar 20 is aligned along the longitudinal axis of the razor head 11 for receiving and positioning a double edge blade 21. The blade 21 has sharp cutting edges 22 and 23 that extend outwardly beneath the cover plates 17 and 18 and over the blade guards 15 and 16 respectively.

The shield 9 is positioned over the razor head to pro tect the blade from becoming damaged when the razor is not used and to protect the individual from becoming cut inadvertently by the sharp edges of the protruding edges of the blade. The shield 9 has an elastic rectangular cap-shaped body 25 that substantially encloses the razor head. The body 25 of the shield may be made of suitable elastic material such as rubber or plastic. The body 25 has a rectangular back section 26 that overlays the razor head 11 extending to the sides and ends of the razor head. The side walls 27 and 28 extend downwardly from the back section 26 over the cutting edges of the blades 21 and over the blade guards 15 and 16 respectively. The side walls 27 and 28 have inwardly projecting lips 30 and 31 respectively formed thereon that extend underneath the guards 15 and 1-6 to hold the shield firmly on the razor head (FIG. 4). The body 26 has end walls 32 and 33 that extend downwardly from the back section 26 forming integral corners 34 (-FIGS. 2 and 3) with the side walls 27 and 28 to effectively cover the corners of the blade 21 and the razor head. Each of the end walls 32 and 33 are contoured so that the walls extend downwardly and outwardly to the sides to form symmetrical lower surfaces 36 and 37 (FIG. 3). A notch 38 is formed in each of the end walls at the longitudinal center of the razor intermediate the surfaces 36 and 37 to enable the end walls to flex to the side when the shield is being applied or removed from the razor head. The end walls prevent endwise movement of the shield on the razor to protect against cuts by exposed blade corners.

Spaced longitudinal ribs 40 and 41 *(FIGS. 4 and S) are formed on the interior of the backing section 26 protruding downwardly therefrom for engaging the curved cover plates 17 and 18 respectively. The ribs 40 and 41 are parallel and are spaced on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the razor head, the spacing of the ribs being such that each rib is closer to the adjacent lip than it is to the other rib. The ribs 40 and 41 are preferably less resilient than the elastic material of the body 25. The ribs 40 and 41 may be molded integrally with the body 25 to form a single unit or they may be separately positioned or attached to the back section 2 6. The ribs 40 and 41 shown in the FIGS. 4 and 5 have cylindrical surfaces to engage the convex outer surfaces of the cover plates 17 and 18 of the razor head.

The ribs 40 and 41 support the back section 26 of the shield 9 spaced from the cover plates 17 and 18 a sufficient distance to enable the central area of the back section to be depressed downwardly by a relatively small force applied between the ribs 40 and 41.

End tabs 44 and 45 are integrally formed parts of the body 25 and extend outwardly from the end walls 32 and 33 respectively for facilitating the removal of the shield from the razor head when the lips 30 and 31 are flexed outwardly from beneath the blade guards 15 and 16.

To remove the guard from the razor head the user merely deflects the center portion of the back section 26 downwardly with his thumb as is shown in FIG. 5 to utilize the ribs 40 and 41 as pivot supports for pivoting the side walls '27 and 28 outwardly to remove the lips 30 and 31 respectively from beneath the guards 15 and 16. The operator then grasps one of the tabs 44 or 45 and pulls upwardly to remove the guard from the razor head. This operation may be easily accomplished by lifting on one of the tabs 44 or 45 with the index finger to pivot the side walls outwardly. The lips 30 and 31 slide upwardly over the guards 15 and 16, avoiding any contact with the edges of the blade. The operator then moves the shield upwardly to remove it from the razor head.

To appy the shield to the razor head the operator merely centrally positions the shield over the razor head and pushes downwardly to move the lips along the side of the razor head and beneath the blade guards 15 and 16. The shield when so placed is secure against accidental removal.

From the above description one can readily appreciate the simplicity with which the guard may be applied and removed from the razor head and effectiveness of the shield for protecting the blade from becoming damaged and for protecting the user from being cut.

It should be understood that the above described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and numerous other modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without deviating from the principles of this invention. Therefore, only the following claims are intended to define this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective shield for a safety razor having a double edge blade mounted in an elongated razor head with a rectangular-shaped blade seat having depending side blade guards beneath the blade and a curved cover over the blade said shield comprising:

(a) a unitary cap-shaped resilient body that has a rectangular shaped back section that overlaps the razor head, side walls that extend downward from the back section over the blade edges and blade guards and end walls that extend downward from the back section communicating with the side walls to cover the corners of the blade and razor head, said side walls having inwardly projecting lips that extend under the blade guards to hold the shield on the razor head; and

(b) a pair of widely separated protruding ribs formed parallel to the side walls on the inside of the back section of the resilient body and spaced on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the body for engaging the cover to normally support the back section of the body spaced from the cover and to provide pivotal support to pivot the side walls outward upon depressing the back section between the ribs toward the cover to release the lips from beneath the blade guards, the spacing of said ribs being such that each rib is closer to the adjacent lip than it is to the other rib.

2. A protective shield as defined in claim 1 wherein the bottom edges of the end walls are curved downwardly from the longitudinal center line of the razor head to the side walls to permit the side walls to pivot outwardly when the back secion is deflected.

3. A protective shield as defined in claim 2 wherein notches are formed in the end walls at the longitudinal center line to permit the end walls to flex toward the side walls when the back section is deflected.

4. A protective shield as defined in claim 3 further comprising end tabs formed integrally with the body that extend outwardly from the end walls to facilitate the removal of the shield from the razor head when the lips of the side walls are deflected outward.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner G. F. GRAFEL, Assistant Examiner 

